Chapter Three
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Duh.
Riku looked over at his alarm clock. It glared brightly back and the four numbers surprised him enough that he almost jumped out of bed: 12:08. Ugh. Riku could hardly sleep at all. Her face kept flashing in his mind. Her smile made him want to groan in frustration.
Sora in the bed beside his own snorted in his sleep as though Riku waking up at twelve o' clock was funny. Riku cast him a grumpy glare and stalked into the kitchen feeling hungry for some inexplicable reason. The kitchen was small just like their room and everything else would work out soon enough.
Midnight snacks never really appealed to Riku, that was more of a Sora thing. As if the thought of his name made him irritated Sora made a low grumble in his sleep. Riku was tempted to wake him up but refrained because Sora was taking the situation with Kairi pretty harshly. He had been depressed all evening until he finally succumbed to sleep.
Kairi sure was being damned stubborn about her memories, Riku had to admit. Before they came back to this little spit of land they had tried other methods to coax Kairi's memories back into her head. When Riku and Sora saw her they thought they saw a flicker of recognition but it was only curiosity.
Riku had missed her so much and to finally see her again and for her to not even recognize him had been a huge blow. Sora smiled easily through the unnecessary introductions but Riku could tell that he was disappointed.
Rooting through the fridge had proved useless as they didn't really have a lot of food. Just some saltine crackers and some of that weird blue ice cream that Sora devoured like a maniac. Of course Cid would have caught up with them by the time they ran out of provisions. At least that was what Riku was hoping for.
Sora had been dismayed to hear that Cid was going to be their guardian but Leon wasn't volunteering and Yuffie and Aerith were busy helping Merlin rebuild their home and the added fact that they really hated awkwardness and space travel was the big clincher.
Getting Kairi to remember her important role in their plans required a lot of acting and pretending and maybe an awkward silence here and there that only Cid with his big blunt mouth could remedy. Plus he was old so he could blend. Or at least that was what Yuffie said. Merlin looked ready for the job but Cid, very sore after Merlin's remarks about his precious computers jumped to take the job- away from Merlin that was. Cid was feeling pretty bored anyway.
Riku sat up in bed feeling not the least bit tired. He remembered Sora insisting that they leave straight away. He wondered if they were doing the right thing. Like this Kairi was blissfully unaware and happy. She could live life without having to risk her life or see horrible things. She could be like any normal teenage girl.
Going to school, dating, shopping- she would be safe. That thought appealed to Riku greatly, but the more he thought of Kairi the more he realized that he missed her.
She deserved to have a choice. They were just there to offer it to her.
Riku wondered why he had never had that choice. To have a normal life. Then he shrugged the thought off, swallowed down his sadness and uncertainty along with a saltine cracker and switched off the small light above his head.
School would be bright and early and he would have to be prepared for the best...and the worst.
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